Pick Your Poison
by AidenMontalvo
Summary: Pre-"True North", after the Evil Queen exchanged the recipe for the Dark Curse with Maleficent for the Sleeping Curse she's put on an apple stolen from the Blind Witch. The Blind Witch stole it back, setting up the stage for the Hansel and Gretel episode. One-Shot. My first story, so I hope you like it! :)


The moonlight cast scant reflections on the black walls of the bedchambers, illuminating from arched windows which peered into the mist-clad mountains bordering north of the Haunted Woods - a somber little enclosure with the occasional screech or gurgle loud enough to reverberate from unfathomable depths which branched out into the Enchanted Forest, and into the divisions of the Dark Castle. Even the moonlight, compared to the crackling roar of the flames seething within the room's grey-stone fireplace, seemed dimmer in this land, as though afraid to shine too brightly or cast its silver phosphorescence too happily in the dwelling of who all knew to be a malevolent witch. With the exception of the guards in black, their faces concealed by ebony veils and their bodies protected by inky armor entwined with patches of iron, all of the population within the kingdom was asleep, or anxious for the lives of their children and pretending to be. All, except for one.

The Evil Queen sat in a wooden chair adorned with opulent carvings, her shadow-steeped eyes looking harshly back at her reflection from the table mirror. Her long, dark hair was draped braided over her shoulder and entwined with a black, silken ribbon scattered with designs of ivy, her lips adorned in a luscious red the color of blood and turned down in angry displeasure. A tightly fitted black dress clung to her body and trailed down along the stone floor, the collar surrounding her neck flaring out as raven feathers and cascading partway over her breasts, whose tops revealed themselves to the chill of the night while the residuum remained tucked beneath a leather corset. She clenched her even white teeth behind a closed mouth, her eyebrows arched in vexation as her gaze remained steadfast to her face. Despite being unallowed to speak, the armed sentinels standing watch over the hallway of mirrors leading to the Queen's room knew what she was thinking of, and they swallowed, expecting her to take out her rage on them for their inability to find Snow White. When she spoke, her voice was loud and threatening, causing them to tremble beneath their armor. It was they who needed the guarding from _her_.

"You mean to tell me that she was _in your grasp_, and you _still failed to find her?!_" the Queen demanded, and suddenly she was no longer in her seat but marching right toward them at a pace which suggested physical harm. One of the guards closed his eyes from beneath the minimal safety of his helmet, expecting the witch to use magic on him and end his life, or worse. His heart jumped at the sound of a body falling to the floor, and he opened his eyes to see the man who was next to him now with his neck snapped, the fingers of the Queen's right hand curved in a way that indicated the use of telekinesis. She grabbed his jaw tightly with this same hand only a moment after, staring into the veil which covered his face as if staring into his soul, and had she seen his tears, she would have killed him too. "_Find_ Snow White", she demanded, squeezing harder on his face, "unless you want to end up _just like _your now _dearly departed _brother", she said, and smiled wickedly for a minute as her effervescing brown eyes motioned to the corpse of the other guard. She let go of the man's face and walked back toward the table mirror, waving a hand before it. There was a plume of blue smoke from behind the glass, and suddenly there appeared the face of her imprisoned eyes throughout the world, floating in the swirls of unnatural azure mist that was his home.

"Yes, my Queen?" asked the Magic Mirror, his eyes steadfast to the witch. From the guard's perspective, it was as if he were admiring the Queen's icy beauty. He had never noticed before, but he had also never dealt with such a gruesome death of his own bloodline, and he tried to avert his eyes from his dead brother to avoid continuing to cry and shake as best as he could.

"Show me Snow White", spoke the Queen with a frown, and suddenly the glass rippled like a pebble skimming against the surface of water, revealing a hut somewhere deep in the Enchanted Forest. A beautiful pale woman with red lips and black hair, Snow White, the guard presumed, was talking and laughing at a wooden table surrounded by seven dwarfs, drinking mead by the light of dim candles. The Queen grunted in disgust, waving her hand at the mirror again. As soon as the scene had come, it faded as the glass filled with blue smoke again, and once more the Mirror was staring at her. The Queen turned sharply back to face the guard again, the black cape of her dress whirling behind her. "Well, _what are you standing around for?!_ You know where she is, now _find her!_" Her tone was angrier than ever, and echoed across the hallway.

"Y-yess, m-my Queen", and with that the guard was walking faster than ever, almost running, down the hall, disappearing into the unlit darkness to gather her army as quickly as a person without magic in the world was able to. The Queen sighed to herself, her fists clenched in frustration as she looked at the Mirror in irritated exasperation, once again taking a spot in the wooden chair before it.

"Well that went well", spoke the Mirror, but he was cut off by a loud "Enough!" from the witch.

"My army is not enough to catch her. They fail me", spoke the Queen, lower now, but no less malicious than before. "I need something that can get rid of her _permanently, _how _hard is that to understand?_"

"Can I recommend a visit to Maleficent?" asked the Mirror, "just because the apple was stolen by the Blind Witch doesn't mean you can't find something else to put Snow under the Sleeping Curse with."

"_No_", snapped the Queen, "I _specifically _stole that apple from her because of its temptation. Snow already doesn't trust me, and that _Blind Witch _is known for making her sweets irresistible. I'd retrieve it myself if I could, but her house is guarded by magic that only _she _can undo."

"You know only _children _can enter her house?", asked the Mirror, his face looking concerned again. "You've already tried to get that apple multiple other times since it was stolen back by her. It _was_ hers to begin with."

"I don't care _how many _children are lost to her, I _will _get what's _mine" _retaliated the Queen, and with another wave of her hand, the Mirror was gone, leaving only the Queen and her reflection in the room.


End file.
